Kyle Do is an Academic Pentathlon Winner from Ethan Allen Elementary School which won first place in the 2012 Orange County Sixth-Grade Academic Pentathlon.
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Students from the Garden Grove Unified School District are raking in awards.
Some are champions in the 2012 Orange County Sixth-Grade Academic Pentathlon. Others will be recognized June 5 as “Simon Scholars for 2012.” And another group earned runner-up honors at the challenging California MESA National Engineering Design Competition Wind Energy Challenge.
See a slideshow of the students
Here’s the rundown, according to district spokesman Alan Trudell:
•Students from Ethan Allen Elementary School recently walked away as the first-place champion, including best overall team, in the 2012 Orange County Sixth-Grade Academic Pentathlon.
The nine-member team, known as the Allen “Mountaineers,” captured the top prize in the premiere Division 1 competition, including the overall title for the highest point total among all 87 teams in the Academic Pentathlon’s seven divisions. Within its top-ranked Division 1 competition, Allen’s team outscored 17 teams representing seven Orange County public and private schools.
Additionally, the Allen “Scholars” — a second team of pentathletes from Allen School — placed fourth overall in the same Division 1. Both teams from Allen School were coached by teachers Catherine Roh, Ian Byrd, Susan Chan, Andrea Joo and Kris Larson.
Academic Pentathlon teams compete in five subject areas: mathematics, essay, literature, social science and science. They also squared off in a challenging Super Quiz competition. This year’s topic was “Paleolithic Era to the Agricultural Revolution.”
Awards are given for individual performance and for overall team by division. This year, pentathletes from Garden Grove Unified schools took home more than 43 team awards and 500 individual awards, which were presented May 14 and 15 at Knott’s Berry Farm.
The Academic Pentathlon is coordinated by the Orange County Department of Education and sponsored by SchoolsFirst Credit Union
•Seventeen outstanding high school sophomores will be recognized by the School Board on June 5. They were chosen as Simon Scholars for 2012.
The San Clemente-based Simon Family Foundation provides annual scholarships to worthy high school sophomores from disadvantaged backgrounds who demonstrate the motivation to succeed and give back to their communities.
The new “Simon Scholars from Garden Grove Unified are students from Los Amigos High School and Rancho Alamitos High School.
From Los Amigos High, the students are: Saron Ayala of Santa Ana, JanicaRose Buensuceso of Fountain Valley, Isaac Davila of Santa Ana, Cecilia Fonseca of Santa Ana, Andrea Garcia of Santa Ana, Eric Phan of Santa Ana, Christopher Quevedo of Santa Ana, Cuong Tran of Santa Ana, and Brian Valdez of Santa Ana.
From Rancho Alamitos High, the students are: Micah Alberto of Stanton, Vanessa Dang of Garden Grove, Sabrina Ly of Stanton, Kevin Nguyen of Garden Grove, Tracy Nguyen of Garden Grove, Stephanie Tomuta of Stanton, Frank Valenzuela of Garden Grove, and Jody Van of Stanton.
While in high school, the scholars received help to prepare them for college. Each student receives a $1,000 cash stipend, a notebook computer, SAT preparation courses, college application assistance, tours of college campuses, academic tutoring, exposure to the arts, life-skills and leadership training, administrative and personal support and potential internship opportunities.
Following high school graduation, students each are awarded a $16,000 needs-based college scholarship. In return, they must maintain solid academic performance, exhibit high standards of personal conduct and demonstrate meaningful community service while serving as role models for other youth. The scholarships represent cash, goods and services totaling $25,000.
•Aspiring student engineers from Garden Grove High School earned runner-up honors at the challenging California MESA National Engineering Design Competition Wind Energy Challenge held recently at UC Santa Barbara.
The team of sophomores Severin Zaluzec, Michael McDonald Tran, and Sam Gregory from the school’s MESA (Math, Engineering, Science Achievement) Club placed second overall in the rigorous contest against three other high school teams representing their respective state regions.
For the state event, each team designed and constructed a windmill from simple household materials and captured wind power to demonstrate the effectiveness of their projects. .
Hon Shiu “Sunny” Costello, a district math teacher on special assignment, serves as the adviser to the Garden Grove High MESA Club.
MESA is an academic development program administered by the University of California supporting high school students so they can excel in math and science studies and graduate college with degrees in engineering, science, and technology.